The traditional practice of exercise known as a push-up yields limited muscular and coordination development due to the fixed and stationary nature of the hands. The traditional push-up is capable of causing an individual physical harm in the palm and wrist areas because of the fixed and stationary positioning of the hands to the surface the push-ups are being performed on (e.g., a floor) by the individual. The possible injuries that may occur include the hyperextension of the inner wrist tendons that results when the hands are placed flat on the floor and forearms are forced into a perpendicular position to both the floor and the hands. The traditional push-up movement also causes stresses to the bones and joints in the hands, the wrists, and the arms. Furthermore, the positioning of the hands relative to the arms in a traditional push-up is an awkward position that causes unnecessary pressures in the hands, the wrists, and the arms.
Numerous prior devices have attempted to enhance the scope of muscular and coordination development with a variety of rotating devices to allow the hands to rotate relative to the floor. Examples of prior attempts include U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,778 to Thomas, Jr. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,463 to Fuentes. Both of these patents provide examples of handles on a rotating piece that attempt to better match the natural positioning of the hand to the arm when the hand is gripping an object.
During a course of exercising over time, the human body adapts and strengthens to be able to perform exercises. Consequently, as the individual performs push-ups over time, the push-ups become easier to perform. To allow for further improvement and development of muscle and coordination, the rotational resistance in performing the push-up needs to be increased. The Fuentes patent is silent on adding resistance to the rotational mechanism. The Thomas, Jr. patent connects two devices together with a rubber band in a figure eight loop around the devices, which is limited to fixed intervals of increasing resistance to both devices. Thus, the prior art is not sufficiently developed to provide for independent and variable increases in resistance to the rotational movement of the handle.
The prior art when attempting to address these problems associated with the traditional push-up have provided elaborate mechanical designs that increases the likelihood that outside substances and particles may not be prevented from encroaching into the internal mechanical aspects of the devices.
Notwithstanding the usefulness of the above-described exercise devices, a need still exists for an exercise device that provides variable and settable rotational resistance for a rotating base with an ergonomical handle. Furthermore, an exercise device with a locking feature to prevent rotation is needed. A way to attach this type of exercise devices to weight machines securely to provide the benefits of allowing the hand to rotate relative to a flat plane is needed. An attachment to adjust the vertical height of an exercise device while allowing for rotation is needed.